BEP2 on South Eveleigh Public Housing

Draft
Redfern-Waterloo Built Environment Plan Stage 2 (BEP2) – Extracts
Regarding South Eveleigh Public Housing

The Draft BEP2 was placed on
Non-statutory exhibition in and subsequently the area was covered by the Growth
Centre Studies that were undertaken by the Sydney Metropolitan Development
Authority (SMDA). The Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC) the land owner of
Housing NSW (HNSW) sites also undertook a complimentary Master Plan with
Federal funding. The resultant Planning Controls and supporting studies are
sitting with UrbanGrowth NSW waiting an appropriate time for exhibition
(expected after the election). LAHC have refused to release the Master Plan
they undertook in 2012 because they say they cannot finalise it until the
Planning controls are finalised. Hence a lot of work has been done but it is
sitting in Government.

BEP2 also covered Public
Housing at Eveleigh. This housing was originally zoned by the Redfern Waterloo
Authority in their first Built Environment Plan (BEP1) which covered other sites
including parts of the South Eveleigh Railyards. In BEP1 the public housing and
adjoining open space remained at existing height. BEP2 proposed to introduce
new heights and floor space ratios for South Eveleigh.

As Government has now included
Eveleigh Public Housing in Central to Eveleigh REDWatch has extracted the key
details from the Draft BEP2 to provide easy access to known Government thinking
about the site.

It is not known what Government
has decided subsequently in finalising BEP2 not is it known what LAHC have
proposed for this site in their Draft Master Plan.

Draft
Redfern-Waterloo Built Environment Plan Stage 2 (BEP2)

Where
are the Housing NSW social housing sites? (BEP Page 3)

The Housing NSW social housing
sites lie within the RWA Operational Area in the suburbs of Redfern, Waterloo,
Darlington, Eveleigh and Chippendale. Figure 1 identifies the location of all
HNSW sites within the RWA Operational Area.

The social housing sites cover
around 33 hectares of land and accommodate around 4,300 social housing dwellings
within the RWA Operational Area. Social housing represents around 44% of the
total dwellings within in the RWA Operational Area.

These are:

1. The Redfern and Waterloo
consolidated HNSW sites

2. Waterloo Conservation HNSW
sites

3. Scattered HNSW sites

4. South Eveleigh HNSW sites

5. Eveleigh Street Precinct HNSW
sites

The social housing is
concentrated within the Redfern and Waterloo consolidated HNSW sites. The sites
accommodate around 3,500 of the total 4,300 social housing dwellings. Of the
remaining 800 social housing dwellings around 520 are located within the
Waterloo Conservation Area, around 100 within South Eveleigh (directly west of
the Australian Technology Park) and the remainder are scattered throughout
Redfern, East, Redfern, Darlington and Chippendale.

It is important to note that
while the draft BEP 2 proposes new planning controls for all the HNSW sites,
the focus of the renewal will be the Redfern and Waterloo consolidated HNSW
sites as these sites accommodate the greatest concentration of social housing,
much of which is not well suited to residents’ needs and nearing the end of its
economic life, so these sites have the greatest potential for renewal.

The built form of the social
housing can broadly be identified as:

• High rise apartments (8 or
more residential floors);

• Medium rise buildings (5 -7
storeys);

• Walk-up apartments (2, 3 or 4
storeys generally);

• Contemporary infill low rise
apartments, terraces or duplexes, and

• Historic houses (terrace, semi
detached, detached).

The presence of the social
housing in the urban landscape distinguishes and characterises much of the area.

Social housing is a significant
part of the history of the Redfern Waterloo area. The 1930s saw the development
of a powerful government movement whereby social housing was recognised as a
social service. This facilitated the clearance of slums within the Redfern Waterloo
area and provision of new housing to alleviate poverty and housing shortages,
as well as reward working families, who were unable to afford home ownership.

Table 1. Summary of the age
and number of social housing dwellings

Precinct South Eveleigh Residential
Apartments and town houses Year Built 1980s – 1990s Number of
Public Housing Dwellings 98  (BEP
Page 4)

Figure 2: HNSW Precincts (jpg file size 0.84 Mb) BEP2 Page
7

How
will the Redfern–Waterloo Built Environment Plan (Stage Two) be implemented?
BEP2 Page 8

The implementation of the social
housing renewal that will be facilitated by BEP 2 will be undertaken over several
phases. Following community consultation on draft BEP 2 a study will be
prepared by the Sydney Metropolitan Development Authority (SMDA) in accordance
with the requirements of the Urban Renewal SEPP (the Urban Renewal Study).

This study will take into
consideration feedback received regarding draft BEP 2. The study will provide
further analysis of social, economic and environmental issues.

The subsequent planning
framework may be implemented through several planning instruments, including
the Urban Renewal SEPP, State Environmental Planning Policy (Major Development)
2005 and the City of Sydney’s new draft Local Environmental Plan (LEP).

It is envisaged that the
proposed planning framework for the Redfern, Waterloo and South Eveleigh HNSW sites
(see Figure 1) will be implemented through the Urban Renewal SEPP which will in
turn amend other environmental planning instruments, potentially as outlined
below:

• For the Redfern and Waterloo
Consolidated HNSW sites, (see Figure 1) amend State Environmental Planning
Policy (Major Development) 2005 and/or the City of Sydney LEP. The renewal of
the sites is considered to be of state significance and warrants inclusion
within a State Environmental Planning Instrument.

• For South Eveleigh HNSW sites
(see Figure 1) amend State Environmental Planning Policy (Major Development)
2005 and/or the the City of Sydney LEP

Renewal
Opportunities (BEP2 p31-33)

A detailed analysis of the
renewal opportunities and potential is outlined in this section. This has been
the result of a detailed site analysis of each precinct, including individual
block analysis. The analysis has informed the development of a Desired Future Character
Statement for each precinct, including desired building scale and density.

3.1 Overview of Renewal Opportunities

The following provides a summary
of some of the key renewal opportunities identified from the analysis undertaken
in Section 3.2. The opportunities are annotated on Figure 12. Figure 12: constraints and opportunities (jpg file size
1.08 Mb) Page 33 and Figure
13: precinct and blocks (jpg file size 2.15 Mb) Page 35

1. South Eveleigh (Block 25) Explorer
Place housing currently consists of low density 1 and 2 storey townhouses.
Opportunity exists for potential redevelopment for apartments that better
address the street and adjacent open space, and which have a high level of
amenity and design quality, and achieve more efficient and appropriate
densities.

Precinct
H: South Eveleigh Existing Character and Site
Analysis BEP2 Page 60-61

The following provides a
detailed site analysis and character description of Precinct H. A summary of
the analysis findings are illustrated in Figure 21: precinct h – south eveleigh (jpg file size 0.92
Mb)

Location

This precinct is located at
South Eveleigh to the west of the Australian Technology Park (ATP) and north of
Henderson Road. It is bounded by Eveleigh Railway Yards and Rowley Lane to the
north, the ATP to the east and Henderson Road to the south.

Surrounds

The northern boundary is defined
by the Eveleigh Railway Yards and associated buildings. To the west are other
railway related activities. To the east is the ATP. To the south of Henderson
Road is the suburb of Alexandria, which includes some small scale
retail/commercial uses, but is predominately low rise residential development
between one and three storeys.

Landform

Land falls to the south at the
Railway Yards (approx RL 20m) to Henderson Road (approx. RL 14m) which falls to
the west to Park Street.

Views and landmarks

Pleasant views to the south are
available from the elevated street over the linear park across Henderson Road
towards early terrace housing and mixed use development.

Built form

The HNSW lands include the
townhouses along Explorer Street, South Sydney Rotary Park and the apartments between
Rowley Street and Rowley Lane. The HNSW walk-up apartments are four-five
storeys in height with a total of 52 dwellings (Block 26). The address is from Rowley
Street to each of the seven slightly different looking brick apartment
buildings.

There are 46 one and two storey
townhouses/terraces with either a front carport or a rear mews access (Block 25).
The dwellings with front carports present poorly to the street.

A recently completed privately
owned apartment development is located between Rowley Street and Henderson
Road. This building is four storeys and is setback several metres from
Henderson Road to accommodate linear open space.

Age and condition

The walk-up apartments fronting
Rowley Street were built in the 1990s and have generally good amenity. The attached/detached
townhouses are generally in good condition. There is some graffiti evident.

Street pattern

The street pattern is
curvilinear with two entrances from Henderson Road. A cul-de-sac and mews
provide access to the townhouses.

Streetscapes

Explorer Street

Explorer Street has relatively
poor streetscape qualities, consisting of single-sided, low scale townhouses
with ‘caged’ carports to the street or cluttered front yards with hedges and
low brick fences. Views across South Sydney Rotary Park are unremarkable. The
street has no cohesive landscape character.

Rowley Street

Rowley Street has a pleasant
appearance. On street parallel parking is defined by four storey apartment buildings.
A central tree located within a traffic calming device provides an interesting
feature. The street connects to a pedestrian path, which provides access to
Henderson Road.

Rowley Lane

This is a rear service lane
adjacent to railway uses, which provides vehicle access to the HNSW apartments fronting
Rowley Street.

Movement patterns

The main access to the precinct
is from Explorer Street, which is accessed from Henderson Road. A second access
is available further to the east from Alexander Street, which is also linked to
Henderson Road.

The townhouses are accessed from
Explorer Street, which is a cul-de-sac that links into brick paved mews for
garage access.

Vehicular access to the HNSW
apartments on Rowley Street is from Rowley Lane. The private apartments have
underground car parking.

Pedestrian movement is along
Henderson Road and on pathways within the linear park.

Open space

South Sydney Rotary Park is
located on HNSW land along Henderson Road from Park Street to Alexander Street
and varies considerably in width and landscape character.

Railway lines are located
beneath the park and there are many access manholes and services evident (easements
associated with the railway lines are located in this area).

The park appears to function as
a detention system in the west sector and is relatively poorly planted. In the
eastern sector it is more linear and planted. There appears to be a planned
open space link between the apartments and townhouses opening to the Eveleigh Yards
land.

Safety and surveillance

Explorer Street is relatively
open and casual surveillance opportunities are evident. Rowley Street
apartments are built to the street edge with balconies and courtyards providing
views of the street. There is minimal surveillance from the apartments of Rowley
Lane.

Heritage

There are no heritage items
within the precinct, but there are railway heritage buildings within South
Eveleigh to the north-east, namely the Large Erecting Shop.

Precinct H: Constraints and Opportunities

Constraints

• An appropriate interface will
be needed between the precinct and adjoining privately owned apartments located
in between Henderson Road and Rowley Street and South Sydney Rotary Park.

• Future development should
respond to the scale and built form of the existing apartment building between Rowley
Street and Henderson Road. Building form and scale of any new development
should seek to minimise overshadowing of South Sydney Rotary Park.

Opportunities

• The existing one and two
storey townhouses (Block 25) provide significant opportunities for renewal.
Block 25 accommodates 46 dwellings over an area of 1.16 hectares. There is an
opportunity to accommodate a greater number of better quality dwellings within
a more efficiently designed development

• Sydney Rotary Park could be upgraded
to provide an attractive and usable open space for the precinct and surrounding
development. It would also provide a pleasant outlook for existing and future
development

• Opportunities for improved
connections, landscaping and streetscape conditions to enhance the amenity of
the precinct and unify it with surrounding development.

Precinct H: Desired Future Character
Statement

The South Eveleigh precinct
should develop as a medium density residential precinct, accommodating social
housing alongside the existing private and affordable apartments between Rowley
Street and Henderson Road. The redevelopment of the precinct should occur with
improvements to existing street and pedestrian linkages, as well as significant
enhancements to Sydney Rotary Park and streetscapes.

The precinct is part of the
RWA’s site ‘C’ as identified in the Redfern-Waterloo BEP 1 and is an RWA State Significant
Site under State Environmental Planning Policy (Major Development). The housing
land is zoned for medium density residential development, while Sydney Rotary
Park is zoned for public recreation uses.

The height and floor space ratio
controls applying under the SEPP currently reflect the existing (built) heights
and floor space ratio and do not necessarily reflect the renewal opportunities.

The HNSW apartment buildings on
Block 26 are in good condition and may be retained for some time.

The 46 one and two storey
townhouses on Block 25, while relatively recent, are an under-utilisation of an
important site. The townhouses could be redeveloped to accommodate residential
development at a density and scale that is more compatible with the scale and
intensity of the surrounding development, and is appropriate for a site with
high accessibility to the CBD, major employment uses such as ATP and public transport
at Redfern station.

Any new development within
Blocks 25 and 26 must acknowledge the four to five storey scale of the existing
adjacent development. In this regard a predominant building height of 4 storeys
is considered appropriate for Block 26 and the eastern part of Block 25.

Within the western part of Block
25, a predominant building height of 8 storeys is considered appropriate given
there is no predominant height directly adjoining the block to the west and the
substantial scale of the nearby railway buildings to the north.

4.2
Statutory Implementation of Planning Controls BEP2 Page 67

It is proposed that the planning
controls for the various HNSW sites will be implemented through several statutory
planning instruments including the City of Sydney’s LEP and the Urban Renewal
SEPP which may amend State Environmental Planning Policy (Major Development)
and/or the City of Sydney’s LEP. The breakdown of the HNSW sites is provided in
Figure 1.

The statutory planning
instruments that are proposed to be amended for each of the HNSW sites are
identified in Figure 24: proposed statutory implementation of planning
controls (jpg file size 0.76 Mb)

South Eveleigh HNSW sites
(Precinct H)

The controls for the South
Eveleigh HNSW site are proposed to be implemented through the Urban Renewal
SEPP, which may amend State Environmental Planning Policy (Major Development)
2005 and/or the City of Sydney’s Local Environmental Plan.

Proposed
land use zone (BEP2 p 68- 69)

The proposed land use zones are
illustrated in Figure 25: proposed land use zoning (jpg file size 0.99 Mb)
and described below.

South Eveleigh HNSW site
(Precinct H)

The current Medium Density
Residential and Public Recreation zoning applying to the South Eveleigh HNSW site
under Schedule 3, Part 5 of State Environmental Planning Policy (Major
Development) 2005 will be retained. The current zone provisions are provided below:

Residential Zone— Medium
Density Residential

(1) The objectives of the
Residential Zone— Medium Density Residential are as follows:

(a) to provide for a range and
variety of housing types in the Zone,

(b) to allow for other types of
development to provide facilities or services to meet the day to day needs of
residents in the local area,

(c) to enable other development
that is compatible with housing,

(d) to ensure the vitality and
safety of the community and public domain,

(e) to ensure that buildings
achieve design excellence,

(f) to promote landscaped areas
with strong visual and aesthetic values to enhance the amenity of the area.

(2) Development for any of
the following purposes may be carried out on land within the Residential Zone—Medium
Density Residential only with development consent:

boarding houses; child care
centres; community facilities; dual occupancies; dwelling houses; group homes;
health consulting rooms; home industries; multi dwelling housing; neighbourhood
shops; places of public worship; residential flat buildings; seniors housing;
shop top housing; telecommunications facilities; temporary structures.

(3) Except as otherwise
provided by this Policy, development is prohibited on land within the Residential
Zone—Medium Density Residential unless it may be carried out under subclause
(2).

Recreation Zone—Public Recreation
(1) The objectives of the Recreation Zone—Public Recreation are as follows:

(a) to enable land to be used
for public open space or recreational purposes,

(b) to enable development for
the enjoyment of the community,

(c) to ensure the vitality and safety
of the community and public domain,

(d) to enhance and protect the
natural environment for recreational purposes,

(e) to promote landscaped areas
with strong visual and aesthetic values to enhance the amenity of the area.

(2) Development for any of the
following purposes may be carried out on land within the Recreation Zone—Public
Recreation only with consent:

car parks; environmental
facilities; environmental protection works; kiosks; passenger transport facilities;
recreation areas; recreation facilities (outdoor).

(3) Except as otherwise
provided by this Policy, development is prohibited on land within the Recreation
Zone—Public Recreation unless it may be carried out under subclause (2).

Proposed
floor space ratio (FSR) (BEP2 Page 70 – 71)

The proposed maximum floor space
ratios are illustrated in Figure 26: proposed floor space ratio (jpg file size 1.13
Mb) and described below.

South Eveleigh HNSW site
(Precinct H)

The current FSRs applying to the
South Eveleigh HNSW site under Schedule 3, Part 5 of SEPP (Major Development)
2005 will be modified as outlined below:

• FSR will continue not to apply
to the Public Recreation zoned land along Henderson Road.

• A FSR of 2.5:1 is proposed to
replace the Existing FSR applying to the social housing.

Maximum Floor Space Ratio
(n:1) Table Page 71

Precinct H Block 25 Description South
Eveleigh Currently Built 0.5:1 Permissible (South Sydney DCP) Existing
FSR – SEPP (Major Development) Proposed 2.5

Precinct H Block 26 Description South
Eveleigh Currently Built 2.2:1 Permissible (South Sydney DCP) Existing
FSR – SEPP (Major Development)Proposed 2.5

Proposed
building heights (BEP2 Page 72 – 73)

The proposed building height
controls are illustrated in Figure 27: proposed building heights (jpg file size 1.14 Mb)
and described below.

South Eveleigh HNSW site
(Precinct H)

The current building heights
applying to the South Eveleigh HNSW site under Schedule 3, Part 5 of SEPP (Major
Development) 2005 will be retained with some modification as outlined below:

• A predominant building height
of four (4) storeys is proposed for Block 26 and the eastern part of Block 25.

• A predominant building height
of eight (8) storeys is proposed for the western part of Block 26.

Building Heights

Precinct H Block 25 Description South
Eveleigh Currently Built (Storeys) 1-2 Permissible (South Sydney DCP)
Existing Height – SEPP (Major Development) Proposed Predominant Height
(Storeys) 4-8

Precinct H Block 26 Description South
Eveleigh Currently Built (Storeys) 4-5 Permissible (South Sydney DCP)
Existing Height – SEPP (Major Development) Proposed Predominant Height
(Storeys) 4

Appendix A: (BEP2 Page 94 -95)

Comparison
of Floor Space Ratio & Building Heights included in HBO+EMTB (2006) Waterloo
+ Redfern Urban Design Report

Comparison of Floor Space
Ratio (FSR)

Precinct H Block 25 Description South
Eveleigh Currently Built 0.5:1 Permissible (South Sydney DCP) Existing
FSR – SEPP (Major Development) City of Sydney Council’s HBO+EMTB Study N/A
Proposed 2.5

Precinct H Block 26 Description South
Eveleigh Currently Built 2.2:1 Permissible (South Sydney DCP) Existing
FSR – SEPP (Major Development) City of Sydney Council’s HBO+EMTB Study N/A
Proposed 2.5

Comparison of Building Height
Controls

Precinct H Block 25 Description South
Eveleigh Currently Built (Storeys) 1-2 Permissible (South Sydney DCP)
Existing Height – SEPP (Major Development) City of Sydney Council’s HBO+EMTB
Study Proposed N/A Predominant Height (Storeys) 4-8

Precinct H Block 26 Description South
Eveleigh Currently Built (Storeys) 4-5 Permissible (South Sydney DCP)
Existing Height – SEPP (Major Development) City of Sydney Council’s
HBO+EMTB Study Proposed N/A Predominant Height (Storeys) 4

REDWatch note on Reference material:

At the time of writing the Draft
BEP2 can be found on the UrbanGrowth Development Corporation website at www.ugdc.nsw.gov.au/built-environment-plan-stage-2

The Planning Controls for North
and South Eveleigh governed by the State Environmental Planning Policy (Major Development) 2005
and the maps are at www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/mapindex?type=epi&year=2005&no=194#RWA.
The current maps at the time of writing are those amended by the State
Environmental Planning Policy (Major Development) Amendment (Redfern–Waterloo
Authority Sites) 2012. These are:

Land Application Map – SEPP_MD_RWA_LAP_001_20110913
(325 kB)

Gross Floor Area Map – SEPP_MD_RWA_GFA_001_20110913
(158 kB)

Floor Space Ratio Map – SEPP_MD_RWA_FSR_001_20110913
(348 kB)

Height of Buildings Map – SEPP_MD_RWA_HOB_001_20110913
(346 kB)

Heritage Map – SEPP_MD_RWA_HER_001_20110913
(338 kB)

Land Zoning Map – SEPP_MD_RWA_LZN_001_20110913
(344 kB)

Additional Permitted Uses Map
– SEPP_MD_RWA_APU_001_20110913
(326 kB)

Prepared by Geoffrey Turnbull,
Spokesperson REDWatch 2 July 2014